Chateau Margaux

We head to Margaux, now, the quintessence for tannins refinement and silky wines , and wich is located in the lower third of the left bank area . Chateau Margaux has great architecture and surroundings , with big trees partly hiding the beautifully restored mansion .
Vincent Millet, quality director of the estate, is our guide today . The Chateau Margaux winery can actually be visited, upon appointment, monday to friday ( closed in august ) .Call for reservations at : 33 (0)5 57 88 83 83 . The place is 350 years old . Total surface of the estate is 250 hectares, of wich 78 hectares of red grape vineyards, 10 hectares of white, and another 10 hectares at rest, not yet replanted . Medium age of the vines is 30 years . They envision to keep these vineyards productive till the age of 75-80 years . Vincent Millet says that for an estate, what makes the quality of its vineyard is not the mono-plantation of a given variety, but the complexity of vineyards located on different soils, wich translate in different expressions of the plots .First technical room we visit is the winery's cooperage . Here, even though they buy casks from several cooperages, they still make their own casks and employ to that effect a full-time cooper . This helps them better understand the interaction between such and such wood quality & preparation, and the resulting wines . The cooper's atelier looks like what such a place would have been a century ago . Simple tools , a fireplace , a pile of staves behind the casks ... Only the smell of new black paint on some of the hoops tells we are in modern times . Their own experience and experiments help them with new requirements when they order casks to the external cooperages/suppliers .All of Chateau Margaux's wine goes through 100% new casks . Second wine " Pavillon Rouge" will partly go through one-year-old casks . 18 months maturing time in casks . For exceptional millesimes, can be up to 28 months . In spite of all the different terroirs and climatic conditions, Vincent Millet says you will always find here the typical Chateau Margaux frame . He says that the decision-making about the vinification is collective , and the team is : The director, the exploitation director, the chai master, the quality director ( himself ), and the oenologist-consultant, who is the independant view, the critical eye of the group .To the chai : Beautiful old tronconic-shaped wooden vats . 26 of them altogether . This is where the grapes change into wine... They don't have an official credo here about wooden vats versus stainless . There are mostly only wooden vats here, but this is the result of history and tradition, that's all . Plus, he says nothing proves that old wood is less effective than stainless steel when it comes to make wine . The average age of these 150 hectoliter tronconic vats is 40 years . And they consider here they have a life span of another 40 years . He says these vats sort of maintain themselves alone, without air-conditioning in the vathouse, thanks to the natural air ventilation of the building . He says the ancestors had somehow understood these were two pillars of a good chai : Big volumes, and natural air ventilation ( no air-tight rooms or roofs ) .

Here, harvest happens later than on the right bank . In the wine , at least 80% Cabernet Sauvignon ( more than the planted % ) . They do a pre-blending before the final assemblage . they would ideally need smaller tronconic vats in case they need to vinify the plots individually . to that effect, they have added a few compartmentalized stainless vats when such smal plots need to be worked alone . A typical compartmentalized vat has three successive vats, vertically .

The first cask chai, now . Built in 1815-1818, like the vathouse . Great place, huge low-lit volume with metal columns . On a table in the middle of it, remnants of a tasting : Great tasting, I guess, and what a memorable setting ... The picture is blurred , but this is a 2 seconds exposure, and I had no tripod...
Vincent millet says the "angel share" ( "la part des anges", this variable percentage of the wine wich mysteriously evaporates from the casks ) is kept low at Chateau Margaux thanks to humidity control, wich is maintained here at 80% to 90% .
Second cask cellar : The 2003 wine is here . 2800 casks, including 600 casks of Chateau margaux, the rest are Pavillon Rouge, including its 2004 . Great view, from a dominant position . Every 2 minutes or so, we hear and see the automatic fog-spraying from the side of the room, designed to keep humidity at the right level . the temperature here is not very low : about 17°C .
Tasting salon, now :
__1 Pavillon Rouge 1999 . 37,5 bottle .
JMQ says this is a great wine he had once at Ramey ( a restaurant in Bordeaux ), with lobster . Beatiful nose . Mouth : silk . Melts in the mouth . JMQ feels plum aromas, that can be felt also, he says, in Chateau Margaux wines . At least 45% Merlot here . No tannins .
__2 Chateau Margaux 1er Grand Cru Classé 1999 . Smells great . With freshness on the first nose, JMQ says . Delicate in the mouth, ample and long . Someone says : Purity is the chief quality of these wines ... It coats the palate, I feel . And it lasts. Very soft . Matured 20 months in new casks . Question is : How can wood be so indetectable with 20 months in new casks ?? JMQ says this is the quality and the mystery of well matured wines . And I would add, maybe of carefully selected wood .
__3 Not Planned . Gift ! Chateau Margaux 1er Grand Cru Classé 2000 . Bottle opened this morning ( our visit was in the afternoon ) for another tasting . Strong, sugary note . Someone sees a beautiful smoke note . Suave wine . See my glass pictured in front of the fireplace . Brings good mood around ( not that we were in a bad mood before ) . Laughs . Jokes . Excitement in the party . Magic of wine... A privilege . Not tasted everyday, even here . Solid base, JMQ says . Can't be traced to a grape variety . And undetectable tannins, even less than in the 1999 we tasted . I find both of them silky . Vincent Millet still considers this wine has to wait some more, in spite of its fine tannic structure . JMQ agrees, saying it is somehow still closed, tight . What to eat with it ? With these wines in general, roasted meat with potatoes and chanterelles .

Comments

[David Graham]

I received a bottle of 2002 Grand Cru Classe from a very good friend. I have not yet opened it. What can you tell me about it?

[Daniel Meehan]

Who has the distribution rites in the state of Wisconsin, USA?

[Bertrand]

Their website does not say anything about the importers/distributors. I suggest that you send them an email or a fax to ask about distributors in your area. Here is the contact page link :

http://www.chateau-margaux.com/en/Contact.aspx

email : [email protected]

[Mike Takano]

It looks like this was written in 2005. Is Chateau Margaux still open for tours Monday thru Friday? It's our favorite. Any other suggestions near Chateau Margaux? Thank you.

We tried to import a Margaux 1934 to the U.S. FDA(food and drug admin)request a "Prior notice registration number" for custom purpose. (it is a 11 digits serial number) Does anyone know where could we find it? Thank you.

[Shin Yoshino]

We are Japanese and travelling France from USA. Would it be possible for my wife and I to visit your winery on 18th Thursday?

[Peter F. Baekkelund]

Regarding the Chateau Margaux 1934. I do have a bottle, so if it is important to you and not too late, please contact me.

[Constance Deja]

We will be in the Bordeaux are on September 14 and 15 and want to tour the Chateau Margaux. Our daughter's name is Margaux and we will be there on her birthday, although she will not be with us. We understand that a reservation is required.

[Joyce Wexler]

We would love to visit Chateau Margaux, and I'm writing to request an appointment for two people on Monday, 25 July 2011.

Thank you in advance.

J. Wexler

[Cory Hernest]

Hi. I have an unopened bottle of (from label) Margaux Maison J.L.Garros Bordraux from 1926. Any information you can send me would be appreciated. Cory